Protect, don’t weaken, human rights

The Relatives & Residents Association has responded to the consultation on Human Rights Act reform, expressing our concern that the Government has thought it necessary to consult on the future of this law. The timing is incredibly troubling, taking place during a global pandemic which has seen the rights of older people undermined by the Government’s mismanagement of the virus. The urgent focus should be on ensuring the rights of some of the most vulnerable members of society are respected and protected, not on questioning the very law which will help older people hold the Government to account.

The technical, legal nature of the consultation questions seem designed to limit the responses to those who agree with the Government’s position that there is a ‘problem’ with the HRA. In the context of the Conservative Party’s repeated commitment to ‘scrap’ the HRA, and plans to reform judicial review, we are extremely concerned that this is part of a wider move to weaken human rights protections and people’s ability to hold the Government to account.

Read our consultation response here.